By Rob Mitchell
The CFMEU and MUA recently held our first ever joint State Conference since the official merger of our unions as the CFMMEU.
It was an astounding success with our unions, international affiliates and the rank and file all making solid contributions to take us forward. One thing was abundantly clear. The future of our union and our members is looking good.
We are on the precipice of changing the rules in this country that have disadvantaged workers and their families for far too long.
We are not alone in this battle. International union affiliates all recounted how they have been facing similar problems to Australian workers. More importantly, they presented campaigns on how they have been successfully fighting back.
This gives us great heart as we set about our own campaigns and strategies to ensure workers are no longer abused by conservative governments and the big end of town.
We’re committed to:
- Making changes to labour hire
- Ending the rorting of work visas at the expense of local jobs
- Winning wage increases
- Making safety the number one priority and holding those who ignore good safety to account through Industrial Manslaughter laws
Both the CFMEU and MUA are united in pursuing changes to the rules. Changes that reward workers and their families with decent wages, conditions, job security and safety.
These things are not negotiable and by working together we will make it happen.